Naharnet Newsdesk - Aoun's Speech Seen As Presidential Platform

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Aoun's Speech Seen As Presidential Platform

An-Nahar daily said Monday the latest speech by General Michel Aoun, in which he accused the government of lacking "representativeness," was more of a presidential platform.
Aoun's speech "which included the past and present … looked more like a presidential platform," the daily said in its front page.

Aoun spoke at a news conference Sunday to mark the anniversary of the Syrian-led military offensive that ousted him from power on October 13, 1990, after he fought an abortive "war of liberation" against Syrian forces at the end of the 15-year civil conflict.

Heavy rains forced Aoun to cancel the political rally that was scheduled for Sunday.

Aoun has accused the current leadership of corruption and reiterated his call for a government of national unity and balanced relations with Syria.

He said the only way to "establish national unity is to start by forming a national unity government that would endorse a new election law and restore the constitutional council that would then elect a new president," An-Nahar said.

He slammed Premier Fouad Saniora's government as lacking "representativeness." "It is squandering the money of the state and the people."

Aoun has also called for "just" relations with Syria, which should be "without tutelage" and involve diplomatic representation.

He said Hizbulah's arms were only "temporary," adding that the "responsibility of Lebanon's security is a national responsibility that should be agreed upon through national dialogue."

He said that the task of a new government would be to construct "a diplomatic and strategic defense scheme which would then incorporate Hizbullah's weapons."

Aoun returned from 15 years of exile in France in May 2005, weeks after Syria was forced to pull out troops from Lebanon and end its political domination of the country.

The Christian leader has no representatives in the cabinet but maintains a political alliance with the pro-Syrian Hizbullah which participates in the current government.

Aoun and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah have been repeatedly calling for the resignation of Saniora's cabinet and the formation of a national unity government.

Most members of the Saniora government represent the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority headed by Saad Hariri, son of the former premier Rafik Hariri who was assassinated in February last year.

U.N. enquiries have blamed Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies for the murder of Hariri, which led to domestic and international protests that forced Damascus to end its 29-year military domination in Lebanon.

In March, Aoun announced his bid for Lebanon's disputed presidency by claiming support from both the Muslim and Christian sides of the religious divide.(Naharnet-AFP)

Beirut, 16 Oct 06, 12:36


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